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Neil, 52, bought the surprise package on Wednesday evening, with the stowaway remaining tucked inside the open fruit bag until after he turned up for work at the Department of Work and Pensions.

He said: “I bought a bunch of four or five bananas at the ASDA and put them in a bag but I didn’t notice the spider until I was at my desk the next day.

”It was in one of the clear bags you use for fruit and it must have just woken up.

“I was lucky it hadn’t crawled out at home or in my work bag.

“I first saw something moving out of the corner of my eye and it wasn’t a normal grey spider you get in this country, it was quite big. I put it in a plastic bag and had a big discussion with my colleagues about what to do with it. We even discussed flushing it down the toilet!

“Eventually a colleague who is an animal lover put it in a cereal box and gave it to the RSPCA, who took it away. It must have made a difference to the cats and dogs they usually get called out to.”